


Render

by Viviscapism



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-24
Updated: 2013-10-17
Packaged: 2018-01-01 16:06:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1045845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viviscapism/pseuds/Viviscapism
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eruri AU fic where Erwin is a medical intern and meets Levi when he stumbles in one night with injuries.</p><p>Chapters listed as '.5' parts apply to the 'alternate ending' route and the reveals in them are applicable to the alternate ending. </p><p>Pairing: Eruri (Erwin x Levi)<br/>Other notes: Excuse my French (literally. There are two words I tried to use; if used inappropriately, please suggest corrections.)</p><p> </p><p>And a million thanks to Chrissy for being my editor and sounding board.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The night had been mostly quiet and uneventful for the last few hours of his shift. Erwin treated a contusion and fracture from a slip and fall and saw a small handful of kids with the sniffles- everything par for the course of the night. This night, however, just as he was ready to take off his badge and scrubs and head home, the hospital received a radioed emergency. It seemed the local thugs were at it again, and this time a knife fight broke out in front of a nearby club. People were stumbling in by the droves as nurses and interns ran to receive the incoming patients and prep appropriate stations.

“Hey, badges at all times!” a nurse called out to Erwin as she ran past.

He’d heard the code announced just as he was wrapping the lanyard around his badge. He quickly unwrapped the badge and put the lanyard back around his neck, straightened out his scrubs, and went out toward the triage to help with categorizing the arrivals.

Amongst the injured were some innocent bystanders carried on the shoulders of loved ones; gang members with visible external injuries helping each other to stand; and good Samaritans helping good Samaritans who’d put themselves in harm’s way in attempt to diffuse a quickly escalating situation. Everyone had someone to lean on, literally. Except one.

In the crowd, one person stood out –because he stood alone. The man was shorter than most, with a slender but lean looking build. He was holding a hand to his head where he was bleeding from a laceration severe enough to cover his hands full of red and matted his dark hair to his face. His condition looked as though he’d be seen more immediately than many of the others, but he stood away from the crowded registration area and waited quietly.

“What are you doing here?! We need you in exam room 4!” the attending yelled out to Erwin, snapping him out of his brief daze.

“Sorry,” Erwin blinked and took one more look at the dark haired man before heading back in to his appointed examination room.

Hours passed and the blond man was finally feeling the strain the night was putting on him. Though thoroughly tired, he had managed to deal with everything calmly so far. The extraordinary composure with which he handled difficult situations was why his fellow interns, and even a few attending, appreciated his presence. Regardless, this was still only his first year in residency and there were only so many stab wounds, contusions, and lacerations anyone could stomach seeing and so many fractures he could send off to diagnostics before he was visibly stressed and wiping the sweat from his brows. 

One more, and then he could finally go home, shower, and eat something… His stomach growled audibly as the next person stepped into his exam room. Erwin recognized the next patient as the only man who had arrived alone in the triage. A small blush of embarrassment colored his cheeks and he pressed his hand to his stomach to quiet it, covering his badge in the process. The dark haired man grimaced in disgust.

“Sorry?” Erwin beckoned at the sight of the man’s expression.

“You’re cleaning your hands, right? You’re not touching me after you just touched your badge. Who the fuck knows what that’s been landing in all day.” 

The taller man looked down at his lanyard and badge, but answered quickly, “Yes, we always sanitize and put on a new pair of gloves for each examination.” 

“No one’s ‘examining’ me,” the shorter man growled with emphasis. 

“I don’t know what doctors you’ve seen, but I’m just taking a look at stopping that bleeding,” Erwin couldn’t help but chuckle. He gestured for the other to have a seat and waited before continuing, flipping quickly through the papers on his clipboard, “What’s your name..?” It was difficult to read the scrawling.

“It’s Levi,” he answered after a moment.

“Levi,” the blond repeated as he waited for the sanitizer to dry and then donned a new pair of gloves, “You can call me Erwin. I’ll be having a look at you today.” 

Levi’s brows furrowed as Erwin rolled his chair closer.

Erwin retrieved a pen light with one hand and pointed at his ear with the other as he spoke, “Look at my ear,” and directed the light at the smaller man’s eyes.

The injured man obeyed the intern and looked toward the man’s ear. …Then, he found himself looking at the blond man’s hair …his high cheek bones …his blue eyes. He saw the finely toned muscles of Erwin’s neck, how they connected down… to what appeared to be a broad, strong chest. For a moment he wondered how this man found time to work out, being in the hospital at such ridiculous hours.

“Please stop moving your eyes.”

Levi rolled his eyes.

“Do you feel sick? Light-headed? Nauseated?” Erwin asked, nearly on auto-pilot as he turned back to his clipboard.

“No,” Levi answered, looking at Erwin again.

“Good…” He put the pen light away and reached for Levi’s head.

The shorter man glared and pulled back.

“Just a look at your head,” he found himself saying with a smile much the way he spoke to kids. “I’ll need you to move your hand, please.”

Thick red blood had already begun to crust at this point, but some glistening could still be seen at the fingers -no doubt Levi was still bleeding. When he moved his hand he winced and hissed quietly as the dried blood crumbled, parting his hand from the wound, opening it up anew. It looked like someone had smashed a bottle against it; there were a few pieces of glass stuck in his scalp. The intern couldn’t believe the man had waited so long to get examined. 

“You could’ve gotten seen right away if you registered along with everyone else. This is bad…” he said as he slid his chair back to retrieve a pair of tweezers from a sanitized package in the drawers. He opened it and glided his chair back to his patient and started work on removing the embedded glass, “This might really hurt…” He could see the wound had started to close and knew removing the glass would reopen it. He sighed, slightly in disbelief at this young man’s tolerance for pain.

“H-how did you know I came in with everyone else?” Levi asked through small gasps as he felt sharp stings of debris being dislodged from his skin.

“I was out in the front before.” Erwin made quick work taking out the glass, fearing the man might lose too much blood if he didn’t stitch him up soon. He sprayed a mix of antiseptic and anesthetic on the wound and got up.

“What’s that?” Levi asked as he saw the intern fetch his suture tray.

“You interested in medicine?”

“No, just wanted to know what the fuck you’re doing.”

Erwin sighed, “You need a few stitches. Is someone picking you up? It’s not wise to leave by yourself after having lost so much blood.”  
“I’ll be fine.”  
—————

“Geez…” Erwin muttered as he finished the last of nearly 20 stitches. “If you don’t have someone to pick you up, I can admit you for observation, make sure you’re fine in the morning before you get sent home.”

“The morning is 2 hours from now. If that’s all, I’m certainly fine now.”

“What?” Erwin looked at the clock. “Oh, shoot.” 

When he’d redirected his attention to Levi, the patient had already gotten up and ready to leave. 

“Wait. Let me fill these out and send you back to the front.” 

Levi watched as Erwin moved around the counter, watched every muscle that engaged at every motion, breaking down the image of that body without clothes. The intern seemed too tired to notice the obvious leering, though his deep blue eyes suggested he was an otherwise bright and aware individual. He almost didn’t mind waiting. But the blond finished the paperwork and cleaned up more quickly than Levi would’ve thought.

Finally, Erwin turned again to his patient and held out a glass vial, “Wanna take your souvenir with you?”

“Souvenir?” Levi uttered in return, with an obvious French accent.

“Oh!” the blond raised his eyebrows in surprise, his hand stopped in mid reach.

The shorter man thought it was a jest about his height, “Trouduc…” he quietly growled through a corner of his mouth, then turned and was out the exam room in an instant.


	2. Part 2

During the nights he wasn’t on call, he was busy studying. There were simply no breaks, as any free time was spent trying to run errands that had to be put off because of rounds, patient interaction and follow up, lecture or conference, admitting new patients, followed with what seemed like an endless repeat of the same cycle. It was little wonder a good number of people quit in their first year.  
  
This was the start of Erwin’s second year in residency and he had seen it coming. All along, he had known that the break up was inevitable. The 30+ hour days didn’t help with maintaining a relationship, either. The two of them had grown up together, went to school together, even got into the same medical school. Yet, the more time they’d tried to afford to each other, the more clearly they saw themselves growing apart. Soon it was obvious they both felt they had only remained together out of mutual convenience. When they came to that understanding, she dropped out of medical college and transferred to some faraway city to pursue organic chemistry.  
  
There was too much more to worry about besides the going away of his friend. She had been fortunate to have decided what she wanted, but Erwin still had decisions to make. It wouldn’t be another two years before he completed his residency, but he couldn’t decide what specialty he wanted to go after -there were far too many disciplines and he wanted to help everyone possible. He retrieved his badge from the now mostly unoccupied space on top of his dresser; it was absent of her items since she moved out of the apartment they’d shared. Somehow he felt relieved and truly happy for his friend that she was freer than she had been when they were forcing moments together.  
  
He absentmindedly reached for his watch, knocking over a small object from the dresser top. Just as immediately, he jerked his hand back and caught the glass vial that was on its way to the floor. Its contents clattered quietly in his hand.  
  
“What the…?” He let out a small gasp, looking at the long forgotten vial that had been pushed behind photos and jewelry shortly after he’d first brought it home. Now that all her stuff was gone, this remained to remind him of one of the stranger nights he had in his year spent as an intern. The vial contained pieces of glass he had removed from a young man’s scalp that he then cleaned up and bottled. Erwin had every intention of giving this to the man, but never saw him again after that night. He figured now that he must’ve been too tired at the time and took the souvenir home without realizing it.  
  
The tall blond man’s nearly translucent eyelashes fluttered as he blinked, thinking back on the first -and only night since then -that he’d seen so many people pour into the ER at once. Most of the memory came back to him in vague pieces: one patient after another; all that shouting; the cuts and scrapes; the smell of booze along with their sweat and blood… and, finally, the dark haired young man.  
  
Erwin remembered sneaking momentary glances at his chin as he stitched up the lacerated skin… letting his gaze rest at the smaller man’s lips before he paused to aim the needle holder to another cut. Then, he had looked at the man’s finely pointed nose as he made another stitch and, finally, secretly staring at those dark eyes while he dressed the site with fresh bandages. The man had a cold, but tenacious look in his eyes that was strangely captivating. That night, Erwin had been at nearly his 40th hour without sleep and most of his memory was a blur, yet it was so easy to remember the man, like he had just seen him yesterday. He felt a hint of guilt, recalling that he’d let that particular patient walk out of there alone despite his head injury.  
  
Setting the vial back, he put his watch on and rushed back to the hospital. Again, he was on call for ER rotation. Upon signing in, he clipped his badge to his scrubs, with a hazy recollection that some time ago someone complained about how unsanitary it was to let a lanyard dangle around his neck when he was on the clock.  
  
“Go take over for the resident in exam room 3, please.”  
  
Erwin felt a hand on his shoulder as he heard a voice and turned to greet his attending, “Hanj— Doctor.”  
  
She smiled, glasses reflecting a tint of blue from Erwin’s eyes, “It’s okay. Everyone is allowed to call me by my first name. In fact, I prefer it.”  
  
“Right,” he agreed, but decided not to further the topic. This new attending was of modest build, standing just slightly taller than most women at their facility, and looked smart in her glasses which he suspected without them she may look rather unkempt. This woman was notorious for being eccentric and Erwin believed suitable observation should be made before he would feel he was interacting appropriately.  
  
“There are a few brought in injured from a fight. I heard it was one against four or five! They’re waiting to get seen now and the police are with them.”  
  
“Alright.” The blond made his way to the exam room up the hall, all the while wondering what was happening to this town. Perhaps college towns have always had their share of problems with kids being away from home for the first time, many of them reaching their drinking age while living without persons of experience as a responsible adult, but it looked to be getting worse with each passing year.  
  
“Doctor…” a nurse called over her shoulder as she heard his footsteps. She turned, “Oh. Sorry, Erwin- have you seen the attending? One of the men who arrived has been fighting with the police. He looks dangerous…”  
  
“I’ll take care of it,” he said. As he walked behind the registration desk, he heard yelling.  
  
Sure enough, coming around to the triage he saw a shorter man and two officers yelling back and forth. The deep blue eyes widened in surprise when Erwin suddenly recognized the man standing between him and the police. It was the one he’d seen in this very ER, almost this same spot, almost a year ago. This time, he was not alone- the police had brought him in and, from the looks of it, with a bit of grief judging by the way the man’s clothes were thoroughly tousled.  
  
“Doc, listen… We’re not exactly sure what happened- the others were unconscious by the time we arrived. But we need their injuries documented -along with his. If he used excessive force, they could press charges.”  
  
“I was told it was four against one? I don’t see how any amount of force he could’ve used would be considered excessive. He was obviously defending himself,” the man in scrubs said, pointing at the blood on the shorter man’s sleeves.  
  
“I don’t think that’s his…” the forensic photographer said to the other officer.  
  
“Why don’t you let me determine that?” Erwin insisted politely, but firmly.  
  
“Either way, we’ve got to wrap this up. We just need to take some photos.”  
  
“Fine, come with me,” Erwin said and gestured for the men to head into the exam room.  
  
Levi simply kept glaring ahead.  
  
“Have a seat. You have blood on your clothes. I need you to remove them to check for injuries.”  
  
For a moment, the man merely sat still.  
  
“I understand you don’t want to be here, but since you’ve made the trip, let’s have a look. How’d you get involved?” he made another attempt at making conversation.  
  
Just the same, Levi sat there unmoving.  
  
“Listen,” the officer tried to lift one of Levi’s arms, but -  
  
“ _Branleur!_ ” he hissed, pulling away.  
  
“Huh…” Erwin pulled out a pair of trauma scissors and started shredding the clothing from the dark haired man’s body. This was met with no resistance and in a minute the somewhat tattered clothes was completely removed. The resident pressed lightly on his patient’s shoulder, prompting him to lean forward. Upon doing so, he revealed a large bruise with a welt in the shape of a boot print between the man’s shoulder blade and lower ribs. Erwin felt his hairs stand on end- the sight made his blood boil.  
  
“Haa…” Levi exhaled slowly, the air shuddering out of his lungs.  
  
“Well, you certainly shouldn’t be shouting at anybody…”  
  
“Will you look at that…?” the forensic photographer said, snapping pictures.  
  
“The others better have boot prints in their skulls,” Erwin muttered, his teeth itching.  
  
“What do you make of that?” the officer asked.  
  
“They must’ve stomped on him while he was down,” the forensic photographer and the resident said almost in unison. “Excessive force, my ass,” the man in scrubs added.  
  
“You understand he could have pulmonary contusions —did you make him walk here?” Erwin inquired firmly, but his eyes betrayed his anger.  
  
“He wouldn’t have come at all if we didn’t drag him here!”  
  
“Have you done enough? I need to rush him down to x-ray.”  
  
“Ugh… You’re all so… damn noisy…” the shorter man slumped forward, and fell to the floor.  
  
“LEVI!”


	3. Part 3

He’d had a terrible time trying to get through that night. After the man blacked out, Erwin had him taken down to diagnostics on a gurney, but couldn’t follow. His station was exam room 3, and that’s where he’d stayed his entire shift, twisting inside. The police grilled him on what he knew about the man, Erwin having shouted out his name. In truth, he confessed he didn’t know much, but assumed it was the same man who had been his patient a year ago. He returned the questions with a few of his own, but received no better answers.  
  
Hours passed like days. After the police left, he had to deal with a back log of the sniffles that had been waiting in the triage. All the while, he felt so uneasy not knowing the condition of his first patient of that shift. But if there was anything he was good at, it was keeping calm under stress and completing his tasks. Not much more happened that night, and when his shift ended he rushed to diagnostics, but they told him Levi had already left.  
  
Over the next week, he learned that Levi passed out from the pain; that he woke up shortly after the x-ray; that he refused further examination; and that he didn’t exist on paper. Not the hospital’s papers, anyway. It wasn’t until close to the end of that week that Erwin heard more about what happened since the patient collapsed on his exam room floor- and he only happened upon new information because one of the individuals caught in the fight was still in the hospital.  
  
Levi had put one of the men into a coma. This made Erwin wonder if the dark haired man was in some kind of trouble, if he was so quick to run to avoid persecution. For a week he felt the dread that he had, again, let his patient leave in a time of distress; that he hadn’t come close to providing adequate help. This time, he actually tried tracking down the dark haired man- and it was then he learned Levi was no longer on the hospital records. A few informed the resident that a lawyer had come in a few hours into his shift, waved some papers around and threw around some legal terminology, and walked out with the young man.  
  
Days after the incident, Erwin saw on the news that two joggers had come forward and confessed that what Levi had done, he did to save them from being mugged. Four assailants had bee-lined across the park and began harassing the two joggers. They described a shorter, dark haired man who happened to be walking by, who had come up to their attackers and, without a word, pulled one to the ground and kicked him in the face. The three others set upon him and the joggers, already in terror, fled. It wasn’t until they ran all the way out of the park that they came to their wits and called for help. They expressed their regret at not having approached their rescuer sooner to thank him. Apparently, they also had no luck finding him.  
  
All that happened almost a year ago. Erwin was now starting his third year as a resident. He would be completing his residency in three years, having received high recommendations and outstanding evaluations on his performance. Indeed, Erwin worked hard for his success, and the days he had free time, he spent it volunteering in the ER. Some began to wonder if he ever found time to rest.  
  
Perhaps he wanted to chance meeting Levi again. The young man might as well have been the proverbial mysterious stranger, who never appeared to say much and vanished just as soon as he’d arrived. In the way history seemed to repeat itself, Erwin believed there were folks who simply could not escape certain patterns; that trouble seemed to prefer certain people. He wondered if the man had been there while he was on rotation in a different department. He wondered if he’d turn up in the ER again.  
  
At first the blond was somewhat distraught by his own deep interest for the stranger and how he actually missed him. He thought that with his lifelong friend having just left back then, what he felt for Levi was transference. However, the more he found himself looking at the vial of glass shards he kept from their first encounter, the more he realized he’d never felt this way about anyone. The days passed and the hope that he would see the stranger again diminished. Despite feeling he should be glad for it -certainly, he didn’t want the man to appear injured before him -Erwin had a hard time suppressing a sense of loneliness. It was a semblance of comradery, he told himself; the two of them shared what Erwin considered to be the two most notable nights of his residency so far.  
  
“Cheer up.”  
  
Erwin turned as someone tapped him on the shoulder with a clipboard. It was his attending.  
  
“Here’s your next patient. Open lacerations on the hands and possible chest injury. I figured you were best at handling trauma patients.”  
  
“I got it. Thanks,” he replied with a polite grin. He was shocked to hear someone tell him to ‘cheer up’ and shut his eyes for a second -that was all it took for him to get it together. His blue eyes looked steadfast as usual when he opened them again.  
  
“Always impressive,” the attending said pushing up her glasses as she flashed a smile before walking away.  
  
The blond ducked back into exam room 2 and called out to the nurse, “You can send him in.” He looked over the papers on the clipboard while he waited and tried to make out the barely legible chicken-scratch. “You’ve got to be kidding me…”  
  
“You again!?” Levi practically turned and walked back out.  
  
He couldn’t believe it. The resident almost laughed as he quickly shut the door so the man wasn’t allowed to leave.  
  
Levi damn near glowered.  
  
‘Yup, same guy,’ Erwin nodded to himself. “What have we got this time?” It was all too familiar.  
  
“I fell,” the shorter of the two replied flatly.  
  
The resident fanned his hands quickly to dry the sanitizer he applied then put on a new pair of gloves before reaching for Levi’s bloodied hands, gingerly prying open his fingers. He was stunned to see gashes on both palms, one slightly more severe than the other and covered in dark red blood. “What exactly did you fall on?”  
  
“Scaffolding,” he answered, goosebumps rising when the blond touched his hands, though more resigned this time to being touched. “I figured I could use it to get out the window, but there was metal jutting out.”  
  
“Out a window…” Erwin repeated to himself. He was going to ask, but noticed the goosebumps and didn’t know what to make of it.  
  
“These bastards effectively have me under house arrest putting me here, that’s all. Staying cooped up in some hotel in a shitty town just so they can easily sweep any trouble I might make under the carpet so they can continue living their comfortable lives.”  
  
The taller man sprayed an antiseptic solution on Levi’s hands.  
  
“Guh..!” he almost pulled back from the sting.  
  
“There was some topical anesthesia in that. If it hurts too much, I can give you some medication to help you manage the pain.” He furrowed his brows, “You’re going to need stitches again.”  
  
“The stitches you make don’t come out,” he scoffed.  
  
“They’re not supposed to…” the blond answered slowly, raising an eyebrow. He got up on his feet and leaned over so he could see the top of his patient’s head -parting Levi’s hair to examine where the stitches had been, “It’s healed nicely.”  
  
“You remember all your patients?” Levi didn’t budge or pull away from the man leaning over him; he was appreciating the view.  
  
“Particularly ones who pull disappearing acts,” Erwin smiled. He got his suture set and began stitching the gashes, turning his gaze up to watch Levi’s face every once in a while. Everything was as he remembered -it was the face he could see with his eyes closed, and he breathed a sigh of relief that he’d retained a perfect image of this visage in his mind.  
  
"What?" Levi had been staring at the muscle’s flexing in the resident’s forearm as he worked, but finally noticed the man glancing at him. He felt blood rise to his cheeks and averted his eyes.  
  
The deep gashes made him wonder what would compel a person to jump out a window down scaffolding, and Erwin finished the sutures and applied fresh bandages without providing a verbal response. He was still thinking, trying to figure out what Levi had said about house arrest, about hiding, as he cleaned up and looked over the chart again, “Chest injury?”  
  
"I didn’t exactly stick my landing after I fucking cut my hands. Banged into a rail on the way down."  
  
The blue eyes peered into Levi’s, searching. There were so many questions, he didn’t know where to start. Instead, he just kept moving, proceeding with the examination. Finally, he asked, “Do you think there’s more to us meeting like this than sheer chance?”  
  
The dark haired man answered with a wry laugh, “We’ll see.”


	4. Part 3.5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: 18+ (this chapter)  
> *Notes: The “.5” chapters are considered “hidden” chapters and are written to be able to stand alone from the other chapters. There are two reasons for this: these mark the smut chapters and I wanted to set them aside in case anyone actually does want to avoid smut. The second reason is that it actually affects the ending— more on that later.  
> Other notes: Fast editing because holy crap I’m sitting in Starbucks and I think the guy next to me has been reading this SMUT b/c he commented on a search I ran for a word definition. justshootme DX

As much as he wanted to continue the conversation regarding their seemingly fateful meeting, Erwin quietly continued his work. Still too many questions were on his mind and he didn’t think it appropriate to address any of them, in case the other did not agree with his point of view. He instructed Levi to remove his top, so as to be able to look at the reported chest injury.  
  
Levi tried to unbutton his shirt, but rolled his eyes at Erwin when he couldn’t manage more than fumbling around, what with his hands numbed and bandaged.  
  
"Sorry. Do you mind?" Erwin stood over the seated man and leaned down to unbutton his shirt.  
  
Giving the faintest hint of a nod, Levi closed his eyes as he was being undressed. His brows furrowed from fighting back an impulse to throw the other man against the wall. The last button had come undone, and he could feel the blond man’s hands on his shoulders, ever so gently sliding the sleeves down and back. There was warmth even through the latex gloves. Levi opened his eyes, and found himself looking at the resident’s crotch. He didn’t budge, wondering if the man’s hairs were blond even on that part of his body. The taller man had his legs bent slightly to be able to lean in to work and Levi could see the strong muscle tone in his thighs, going down to his powerful calves, steady footing, back up to …Levi smirked when he discovered the man undressing him had a slight bulge in his pants.  
  
"It’s red…"  
  
The patient blushed when he heard a voice breaking the silence.  
  
"There’s a mark nearly centered across your pectorals. But…" he pressed on the skin where it was red, "It seems you don’t have any fractures."  
  
"I said I didn’t stick my landing. I didn’t say I couldn’t break my fall."  
  
"Did you hit anywhere else?" Erwin knelt down just a bit more. His voice was hushed, because that’s all he could manage while he spent most of his energy on controlling his body not to react to this… this illusion of intimacy.  
  
Levi folded his arms across his chest and put a foot to the man’s crotch.  
  
Either he was completely oblivious or he was good at trying to play it off, “I just need to make sure there are no other injuries,” Erwin said as he easily brushed Levi’s foot down with one hand.  
  
This prompted the smaller man to repeat his action only, this time, more deliberately.  
  
"Hey, what-" he tried to back up, but was caught and held fast by his shirt. His cheeks flushed a rich shade of red when he realized the dark haired man wasn’t trying to kick him off -he was massaging Erwin’s crotch with his foot..! Blood seemed to rush out of his head as he felt more pressure to his partially erect cock: Levi wasn’t pushing harder, Erwin was pushing back. "Ugh…" he gasped and tried to pull away.  
  
"Stop. You’re going to rip my stitches," Levi warned, gripping firmly on to Erwin’s scrubs.  
  
Erwin held his stance awkwardly, shaking, fighting himself to behave. He tried to pry one of Levi’s hands loose, but his own hands were trembling -the smooth latex gloves didn’t help with his grasp, and he really didn’t want to aggravate Levi’s injuries. It felt as though blood was only going to two parts of his body now: one was his face and the other certainly wasn’t in his head; he couldn’t think anymore. He pressed his palms against the wall, just above Levi’s shoulders. With very little remaining will to resist, Erwin leaned his head down close enough to breath in the scent of Levi’s hair.  
  
Seeing the blond man finally giving in, Levi put his foot down and ran his hands under the scrubs, attempting to remove the article of clothing. He let his fingers rest briefly on the blond man’s abs, tracing the muscles there. He wanted to see. He impatiently pulled the scrubs off and threw it to the floor. The torso displayed before him was nothing less than stunning, enticing him to touch it, tickling Erwin’s skin with his bandages. He stroked the skin with his finger tips, from the blond’s stomach up to his chest, then over either side of his shoulders. There was a large scar on Erwin’s right bicep; Levi didn’t ask, only turned to kiss it. This was reciprocated with a shuddering, followed by a hand sliding behind his neck, pulling the two closer. Levi shrugged the hand off, “That feels gross. Take off your gloves.”  
  
In his head, the resident told himself over and over this was the worst idea ever. Yet he felt caught in a dream, that his body acted according to a predesign and would continue this course of action regardless of what he thought or told himself. This course of action beckoned him to remove his gloves, beckoned him to lean in closer, to put his hand on the nape of the man’s neck. He pulled the man up on his feet, bowing his own head until their foreheads touched so he could drink of the same hot breath the other airily exhaled.  
  
Levi hooked a finger in the string of the taller man’s pants, finding that it quite suited his intentions the hospital wear turned out to be easy to remove. It was all he would’ve been able to manage with his hands in bandages. He pulled the pants down just enough to reveal all he needed to see, appreciating the firmness of …everything.  
  
Though hastily, the blond was still careful to mind the injuries as he led them away from the wall, pushing the smaller body down onto the exam bed. He reached into the drawer and grabbed a tube of lubricant, rubbing a generous amount of it quickly between the fingers of one hand in attempt to warm it as he pulled Levi’s pants down with his other hand. Once he had undressed the man completely, he wrapped an arm under one of the bare legs, bringing the knee to his side so the smaller man’s hips was slightly elevated, exposed. Erwin pushed his fingers in eagerly, almost more forcibly than he intended.  
  
"AH..!" Levi arched his back, quivering as he cried out.  
  
"Shh…! I’m sorry… I got you," he coaxed, gently kissing Levi as he continued moving his fingers, making sure all the lubricant was applied to the intended area. The small body was so hot and tight inside.  
  
"Nn…" the shorter man moaned as he wrapped his legs around Erwin, pulling him in closer, urging him on.  
  
"Damn it, Levi…" the blond hissed as he firmly pushed his cock inside. They both groaned through clenched teeth; Erwin knew he couldn’t have entered had he not applied lubricant. It was so tight it hurt. He could feel his heart aching, fearing he’d hurt the other.  
  
"Ah… ahhh!" Levi muffled himself with a bandaged hand, whimpering as he tried to steady his breath. Erwin’s endowment was very well proportioned to the size of his body. In spite of the pain, he moved his hips, his own body inviting the other man to come further -deeper.  
  
"Damn it…" Erwin groaned again. He felt confused, moving his hips steadily, connecting with another man. "Damn… Levi…" he said in broken syllables, thrusting. From the bottom of his heart, he felt fulfilled.  
  
Chest heaving and flushed with fever, Levi struggled to calm himself. He wanted it to last, to feel the strong calloused hands lightly grazing his skin, to have the man gasping his name, to be lost tracing the contours of his muscular build …to drown in the deep blue sea of his eyes that glistened with conviction. He’d have that and wish for an eternity to be able to take it all in. There was just too much and he couldn’t contain it all -he couldn’t contain himself. Levi craned his back in what seemed a practically impossible angle, wheezing as his whole body shook in the sensation of his climax.  
  
The tightening of the smaller body forced Erwin to climax inside; it was too tight -and too late -to pull out. He pressed his lips to Levi’s, consoling him with warm and kind kisses while quieting what would have been loud cries of passion to hushed mewls as his own cock pulsated, pumping his release. He could feel them both throbbing in sync.  
  
"Erwin…"  
  
They could only afford a short moment to rest, for their breath and heart beat returning to normal. Erwin pulled back and cleaned up, taking care to wipe clean every part of Levi’s body, at the same time further examining it. Besides what he checked in for, there were no other fresh inflictions. However, the resident noticed plenty of old scars. He took his time tracing the skin, making a map in his head of all the marks. Once he’d finished, he wiped himself off and threw the paper towels into the bio-hazard receptacle. His back was turned to the exam bed -he was at such a loss for words and could only hope he’d find something to say as he dressed himself as he’d heard the other do the same. Finally, after putting his scrubs back on, he turned to face Levi, “Can I see you again?”  
  
But all he saw was the door opened a crack as the sound of footsteps grew faint until it faded away down the hallway.


	5. Part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... you'll notice the chapter counter seems askew. It's thanks to AO3 not allowing me to list chapters as '.5's... I started writing this before I knew what AO3 was or how it works, so I guess I kind of shot myself in the foot with my formatting. orz

As if he wanted to put to the test whether or not there was more to them meeting than sheer chance, Levi had walked out the exam room without leaving behind a way to track him down, again. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Erwin was always on the lookout for the dark haired man. At the same time, he was pouring all of his energy and focus into his work at the hospital, and completing his residency in three years. Since the third year was his last year of residency, it was spent primarily in clinical rotations. There was little free time to speak of, and he hadn’t enough to spare to continue volunteering in the ER while he also had to prepare for board certification exams. Many were in awe at how much Erwin seemed to be able to work and never tire.  
  
Naturally, Erwin passed his board certification with little trouble. Then, he began a fellowship in internal medicine, with a focus on infectious diseases. The first year passed quickly, and he remained working in the same hospital. New interns learned of him quickly, and many would approach him for advice. Halfway through this first year of fellowship, he became an attending. Time simply flew by, and it wasn’t until the end of his first year of fellowship that Erwin realized it had been two years since he last ran into Levi. At this point the three occasions during his residency when he’d met the other man was virtually more a dream than a memory.  
  
At the end of the first year of his fellowship, things finally fell into a steady routine and the blond found himself having some spare time on rare occasions. On these nights, he would run as far as he could, until he could no longer be confident he’d have the strength for the return trip home before he would turn and run back, where he could shower and at last collapse into a sleep deep enough to be dreamless. Otherwise, he’d find himself staring at the glass vial in his room, whether he was looking at it occasionally over the top of the book he was reading, or in fact staring straight at it until he spaced out. He made work his obsession. He had wanted to throw out the bottled glass shards. Nothing he tried seemed to help him forget Levi and the vial was the last and only material object he had to remember the man by.  
  
That night, he ran in as straight a path as he could after the moon, and ran until he’d lost sight of it before pausing. It was only then his body finally registered its fatigue. Sore all over, Erwin reckoned a good night’s sleep was ahead, and began the return trip. His mind was blank and he relied solely on muscle memory to guide him back. As he passed the strip of bars and restaurants- most of which were closed by this hour -he was so tired he almost missed the fight on the opposite street corner. He stopped, watching to see which side, if any, should need his help.  
  
One individual seemed to be handling himself well, knocking two larger aggressors to the ground and beating them back down every time they tried to get back up. That individual undoubtedly had his hands full, when he struggled to fend off a third. Erwin started crossing the street to break up the fight before the one was overwhelmed by the odds. In the moment he started to approach, he saw the larger fighter slink down, bearing all of his weight into one shoulder, and checked his respectively smaller opponent into the post of the street lamp. Under its light, Erwin finally recognized the other fighter -it was Levi, who coughed as he strained to get back up. The standing brawler brought his leg back, winding up a kick -which put him off balance and Erwin bull rushed this attacker with such force, it sent him into the air and barreling into the wall behind them.  
  
A group had exited a bar across the intersection, all of them quickly turning their attention to the corner on which Erwin stood. He couldn’t hear them, but figured by their gestures these people were calling the police. The three men on the ground likely thought the same thing, and made themselves scarce in a hurry. Erwin could smell the stink of alcohol on all of them as they part ran, part stumbled past him.  
  
He turned to Levi, “Can you get up?”  
  
"How the hell…" Levi looked at him incredulously.  
  
"Come on. I’ll take you to the hospital," Erwin reached for the shorter man’s arm.  
  
"I’m not going," he replied, but actually allowed the blond man to help him up. He winced and cringed when he got to his feet.  
  
"I think you’re injured," Erwin said flatly, with a small frown, holding the other up.  
  
"I’ve had enough of hospitals."  
  
The taller man watched the group across the street out of the corner of his eyes, “Then you’re probably not going to want to be around when the police show up…”  
  
"Fine," the shorter one replied, trying to push away from the blond so he could stand on his own.  
  
"Come on. I live not too far from here," Erwin said, firmly holding on to Levi.  
  
Despite his disgruntled expression, Levi didn’t contest the direction towards which he was being led. His ribs and sides were so sore, it was challenging just to stand. On his own, he wouldn’t be able to make it very far very fast.  
  
With little effort, the taller man held Levi up, careful not to put any tension on the injured side. As Erwin said, he didn’t live too far away and they made it back without much strain for Levi. Erwin helped smaller man lean against the wall and opened the door. The apartment was sparse in furnishings, like he was either moving and got rid of most things to make it light, or just moved in and hadn’t acquired anything. Since he had shared the apartment with someone else at one point, about half of everything had been taken when she moved out and indeed he never replaced them.  
  
The shorter man eyes widened slightly, pleasantly surprised the place was cleaner than he’d expected.  
  
When they entered the door, Erwin finally asked, “How do you manage to get into fights all the time?” breaking the silence.  
  
"Shit just finds me…" Levi grumbled.  
  
"The guys you were beating up?"  
  
"They were drunk and looking for a fight," he grumbled, some pain in his expression, "…ça me fait chier."  
  
"Have a seat," Erwin offered, "Help yourself to anything. I’m going to take a quick rinse." He began heading into his room, and took one more long look at Levi before adding, "And DO NOT leave."  
  
To reassure the blond, Levi lifted his shirt on one side, turning slightly to reveal a large bruise extending from just beneath his shoulder blade, down the side, to his last rib. “It hurts to move,” he confessed, sinking further into his seat.  
  
A few minutes later, Erwin stepped out of his bathroom in a damp shirt, just wet enough to be slightly translucent. It looked like he hadn’t dried off completely before putting his clothes on, and was indeed hurriedly toweling off his hair. He saw Levi standing before his dresser, looking at the vial of glass pieces. “Remember those?”  
  
"Yeah… Trouble likes me," he said, tapping a finger on the vial.  
  
"Sometimes, it feels like things have a way of repeating themselves -like some events were already set into motion with a force that would require insurmountable effort to break the pattern."  
  
"What the hell?"  
  
"Was that a strange thing to say?"  
  
Levi scoffed, “Guess not. It’s been this way as long as I can remember. After the first time I seriously hurt someone in a fight, they shipped me off here where no one knows me and I’d be protected under diplomatic immunity. It keeps me out of the papers so they can continue to enjoy fattening themselves with all those other pigs living their carefree lives.”  
  
Erwin smiled slightly, actually happy that the dark haired man chose to open up to him.  
  
"What about you? What repeats for you?"  
  
"This seems like a repeat of something," he replied, gesturing for the shorter man to lift his shirt.  
  
Levi obeyed his instructions; in a strange way he felt used to this dynamic.  
  
"I’m sorry, this might hurt," he pressed a hand to the smaller man’s ribs, where he could clearly see bruising.  
  
"Nn…" he grunted as he felt fingers pressing against his ribs, feeling them one after another.  
  
"Breathe."  
  
Levi hissed.  
  
"You have bruised ribs. Don’t do anything strenuous and let it heal."  
  
"Alright," he nodded, straightening out his shirt and walked towards the door.  
  
"Stay here. You need rest. You can use my bed -don’t lie on your side. I’ll walk you home in the morning."  
  
After a moment of deliberation, Levi said slowly, “I’ll need to borrow your shower.”  
  
"Of course," Erwin smiled warmly. Maybe some history repeated with little details changing, until a pattern can be broken altogether. This was the first time Levi didn’t just suddenly disappear.


	6. Part 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... you'll notice the chapter counter seems askew. It's thanks to AO3 not allowing me to list chapters as '.5's... I started writing this before I knew what AO3 was or how it works, so I guess I kind of shot myself in the foot with my formatting. orz

It was strange, having someone not only in his apartment, but actually in his shower. Though Erwin was now a fully licensed physician and could certainly afford better than the apartment he managed on a resident’s pay, he had found no reason to move. He rarely spent time at home and never had anyone over. Until recently, he felt it a luxury just to have his own bed to fall into when he wasn’t sleeping in the on-call room. That night, though, he was on his couch.  
  
As uncomfortable as he found it, being able to sleep anywhere was something of an acquired skill for Erwin. He was so tired- which was the intention when he was returning from his run, but he never expected to get into a fight and carry someone back to his place. Too exhausted to even turn, the blond man lay on his back in his damp clothes. Now that he knew the smaller man was alright and didn’t sustain any severe injuries during the fight, he figured he should take the time to completely dry off and get into fresh change -that was his last thought before he could no longer keep up forcing his eyes open and drifted to sleep.  
  
There was a shelf of what looked like clean towels in the bathroom, with a sorted stockpile of the most basic toiletries. Taking a quick glance around, Levi could see the essentials, simple and neatly organized. Somehow it was rigid -certainly, the tidiness didn’t look like the works of a cleanliness freak -it looked like it came from a set of disciplined habits. From what he had seen, the rest of the place was very much the same way. The dark haired man wrapped a towel around himself after drying off and contemplated putting his own change back on. They smelled stale from the stink of booze thanks to that run-in with the drunkards. Reluctantly, he went seeking the host of the home to lend him a fresh change of clothes.  
  
"Oi."  
  
Erwin felt a tug at his shirt being pulled up toward his shoulders. He opened his eyes and saw Levi standing over him, covered from the waist down with a towel. Worn out and still half asleep, all he could muster was an unintelligible mumble.  
  
"You can’t sleep in this," the shorter man said, yanking at the damp shirt, attempting to wake the blond. At the moment, he was more concerned for Erwin, whose clothes were cold as was his skin. Due to the wetness, a good part of the thin white t-shirt was translucent. Levi tugged some more, dragging the fabric over the blond man’s skin, watching it stick but glide against the contours of the muscular physique.  
  
His eyes were opened, but he was still too tired to speak and simply lay there watching Levi’s face, moving only his eyes.  
  
"I’m going to fucking rip this…" Levi grumbled, noticing that Erwin made no effort to move despite his opened eyes suggesting he was awake.  
  
The doctor simply breathed calmly, as if to show off his broad chest as it rose and fell with each breath.  
  
"You must not like this shirt very much," Levi said, grabbing the damp article of clothing at either side of Erwin’s shoulders. "You’re freezing. I thought you doctor people were supposed to know this makes you sick."  
  
Looking from where he was, he could see up the smaller man’s chest, up to his neck, and at his face. Even if he wasn’t thoroughly drained, Erwin would’ve found little reason to stir from his position. All the marks he could see were where he remembered them from the last time he’d examined that body, they were still where he could recall them in his mind if he only closed his eyes. His blue eyes explored every inch of the torso leaning over him, and he quickly noticed the other blushing.  
  
"Che…" Levi interrupted the more than conspicuous leering with an attempt to pull the shirt over Erwin’s head. Upon receiving no return effort in helping him, he scoffed and made good on his threat, ripping the damp fabric with ease.  
  
"Ngh…" the blond finally flinched, but more from the cold than anything.  
  
"Get up!" he snapped.  
  
"Twenty…"  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
"Twenty miles…" he could no more than whisper, but gathered enough strength to reach his arms up.  
  
"Looks like you burned more brain cells than muscles," Levi muttered as he took this opportunity to pull the pieces of torn garment off Erwin. "Get…" he had to lean down more to get the rest of the scraps of clothes out from under the blond.  
  
When Levi leaned down close enough, Erwin wrapped his arms around the smaller man and simply let his weight pull him in. This yielded a bit of a fuss from the other, but he only had to hold his arms in place firmly and wait. After a short moment, he could feel Levi give up trying to pry himself out of the grapple. The body of the dark haired man was tense, which emphasized a very solid athletic build. “Relax…” he sighed.  
  
"Watch it!" the shorter one hissed, shifting his weight a little. He couldn’t fight even if he wanted to, since any further strain in this awkward position would just agitate his bruised ribs. At the same time, he felt this was the best thing to do: with the pain in his ribs, he definitely wouldn’t be able to bring the larger man to the room and he didn’t think leaving him sleeping in the cold on the couch was a good idea. Resting chest to chest on Erwin, he felt strangely comforted -that he was able to do something perhaps bearing a semblance of helpfulness to the doctor.  
  
"What’s this…?" Erwin lightly touched his hand over the small of Levi’s back where he knew there were scars.  
  
"I fell off a roof."  
  
"This..?" he moved one hand up, a little to the side.  
  
"I overshot my jump and missed my grip on the window ledge."  
  
"Hmm…" Erwin hummed, trying to say something else, but found himself falling asleep to Levi’s voice.  
  
The smaller man was rather savoring the unusual caress and touched his own hands behind his back to guide Erwin’s hand to yet another scar. “This, I overshot another jump across a roof and wiped out on my landing.”  
  
"Mm…" the blond strained to stay awake.  
  
Levi found the humming reverberated in Erwin’s chest, which soothed him and he rested his temple to it, moving their hands again. “I broke my arm hitting a bike rack. That was my stupid friend -he wasn’t going to make his jump, I saw it. I threw my landing to push him…” he slowed down, looking up to see if the blond as still awake.  
  
"You fall a lot…" Erwin muttered, the pause actually brought him closer to waking again. He didn’t want Levi to stop.  
  
"Parkour isn’t exact science."  
  
"Park… mm…" the larger man moved his free hand up Levi’s back and tucked his fingers into the dark strands of hair. He let his hand rest there anticipating Levi to direct his other hand.  
  
"Free running." He waited for the blond to hum again, feeling his breathing and his voice before continuing, "It gave us something to do, living in a mess of a city. The otherwise filthy city …it looked different when we were climbing walls and jumping roofs…"   
  
"Show me…" Erwin whispered after a pause, knowing there was more. He had seen the marks, and he wanted to know the story behind all of them.  
  
"Show me yours…" he whispered back, touching one hand to the scar on the larger man’s right bicep, tracing lightly over the irregularly raised skin.  
  
Erwin remained silent and motionless besides the steady rising and falling of his chest.

  
The night was short by the time they retired, and when the morning came the temperature seemed to rise as quickly as the sun. It wasn’t long before Levi stirred, his exposed back basking in the light coming in from the window. Thinking he was the first to wake, and since they only had a few hours to sleep, he tried to stay as still as he could so he didn’t accidentally disturb the blond.  
  
Noticing change in the smaller man’s breathing, Erwin gently touched a hand to the dark head of hair and whispered, “Are you awake?”  
  
Levi carefully climbed off the couch, securing the towel around himself, “I need to borrow some clothes and get back to my hotel to get changed…” It was obvious he was reluctant to get back into the clothes he was in last night since it had gotten rather soiled in the scuffle.  
  
"You don’t look that bad," Erwin smirked.  
  
Levi responded with narrow gaze.  
  
"Alright," the blond said, chuckling as he got up.   
  
When Erwin went into the bathroom to freshen up, Levi followed. Their actions almost in sync like they had done this a million times. Almost like they knew each other’s habits, Erwin finished up first, leaving Levi to his devices cleaning the sink and counter tops and wiping down the mirror. It was just as well- this gave the blond time to call a cab service then go through his own clothes for something that might fit the respectively shorter man.  
  
Though Erwin had lent him the smallest set of clothes he could find, Levi was still in garments two sizes too big; he hissed a string of curses in one breath.  
  
"It’ll be fine. I called a cab service and I’ll take you back," the blond offered to accompany Levi back to his place. At least this way he could make sure Levi was fine. He figured the smaller man might’ve been even more sore that morning since they had slept in odd positions for a few hours; he could see that Levi still grimaced in pain when he raised his arm to dress.  
  
On the surface, Levi felt he should refuse being further attended, but he really did appreciate Erwin’s company.  
  
Met with no debate to the matter, the blond gathered up the stale clothes into a duffle bag while Levi finished dressing himself. Then the two waited by the door for the cab, standing across from each other in silence. They didn’t have to wait very long before the car showed up. Erwin helped Levi into the car and the shorter of the two gave directions.


	7. Part 5.5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... you'll notice the chapter counter seems askew. It's thanks to AO3 not allowing me to list chapters as '.5's... I started writing this before I knew what AO3 was or how it works, so I guess I kind of shot myself in the foot with my formatting. orz  
> 
> 
> Chapters listed as '.5' parts are set apart in two ways: they contain smut, and they apply to the 'alternate ending' route and the reveals in them are applicable to the alternate ending but glanced over in the rest of the story for the 'standard ending.'

To Erwin’s surprise, the destination was a really upscale luxury hotel that only a year ago finished its historical renovations. Following Levi down the lobby, they entered the elevator, where the dark haired man took out something resembling a skeleton key and inserted it in the panel, taking them up to the penthouse.  
  
Seeing Erwin’s eyes glisten with a hint of astonishment, Levi commented quietly, “It’s not as great as it looks. I think I’d rather be broke but free in another life.”  
  
Not much for material things, Erwin was simply surprised to learn more about Levi; he didn’t have any attachments for this sort of lavishness. The elevator had let them off into a large living room with marbled floors and columns to match, furnished in contemporary leather furniture in neutral colors. Though he had spent years in this town, the blond was not learned in what this historical building was in the past, but he imagined this might have been what a small castle looked like.  
  
"Give me a hand out of this. I have my own clothes here; you can take this back," Levi found raising his arm was still quite uncomfortable.  
  
"Sure," the taller man leaned in to help the other undress.  
  
Levi glanced again at the scar on Erwin’s arm. Tracing a finger to it, he finally asked, “What is this?”  
  
The blond paused and after a moment spoke quietly, “I was in the Corps… but two years in, I had an accident -broke my clavicle and shattered my humerus. After the first bone graft resulted in complications…” he stopped.  
  
"What?" Levi looked up.  
  
"Another limb salvage surgery was performed after the first major complication. My arm is held together with a titanium rod and screws."  
  
"Ti-titan…"  
  
"Titanium. It was a last resort. Many times, this leads to muscular atrophy in the saved limb, so I keep up a regimen to maintain muscle strength. When they realized I could no longer make the career I wanted, they discharged me.”   
  
"You can move that at all?"  
  
"It was worse at the start. Now it’s not so bad." He sighed, letting out a chuckle, "heh…"  
  
"That hardly seems funny.”  
  
"Sometimes I wonder if, in another life, I might have lost my arm altogether," he held his hands still at the smaller man’s waist, waiting until they finished the conversation before he’d pull the shirt over the other’s head.  
  
Levi placed his hands over Erwin’s and looked the taller man in the eyes. The blue eyes reflected the same firmness as always, while Levi’s own showed a hint of distraught.  
  
"It just reminds me of a story I heard some time ago…" the blond continued, "About a man who was a police between different worlds. In some of these worlds, there were different versions of him -with their personalities to each extreme and everything in the middle. One of them was a villain he was sent to arrest and he accidentally killed him."  
  
“That’s enough,” the dark haired man guiding their reach just slightly further down, touching their hands to his crotch. Erwin didn’t pull away immediately, allowing the dark haired man to indulge a little, stroking both their fingers at a growing erection.  
  
"When he killed this version of himself, he felt he grew stronger. He started tracking down different versions of himself and going to their worlds to kill them, growing stronger each time."  
  
"Shut up…" Levi put his head back, closing his eyes.  
  
"I wonder if I had lost this arm, if a version of me in a different world grew stronger."  
  
“Then one of you must have a hell of a right hand,” he panted quietly in anticipation as he leaned up and covered Erwin’s lips with hungry kisses.  
  
The blond gladly obliged the kisses and stroked Levi’s erect cock. It was easy to undo the belt on the over-sized pants and with a little of a tug the garment came off. Erwin did not need any more leading from Levi here; he pressed the hardness against the man’s stomach and stroked gingerly with his fingers while he massaged the more sensitive package with his other hand.  
  
"Ah…" Levi moaned, almost a whine. He took Erwin’s hand again and tucked it further between his own thighs, raising a leg slightly at the taller man’s side, inviting him- practically begging him.  
  
Erwin hesitated, “I said nothing strenuous. You’re still injured and if you continue like this…”  
  
” _Baise_ …” Levi groaned into another kiss. He wasn’t having it, he wasn’t stopping. He pressed a hand to Erwin’s groin, eagerly alternating between massaging the blond and trying to tear the clothes off him.  
  
It wasn’t easy to resist Levi’s advances, and finally Erwin pulled the smaller man to the nearest bed, pushing him down onto the mattress. “You’re so difficult…” he moaned softly, watching Levi’s cock twitch with anticipation as he started to ease a finger inside.  
  
"Nn…!" Levi bit his lip to stifle a cry.  
  
"Take it easy…" Erwin whispered gently, brushing strands of hair out of the smaller man’s face, tracing his fingers on the stiffened lips. With his other hand, he was still trying carefully to coax Levi to open up.  
  
"Erwin…" he panted hot breaths, nibbling at the strong fingers… licking… sucking…  
  
The blond leaned in closer, gliding two fingers into the small mouth, feeling the silken warmth with his fingertips. “Levi…” he hissed quietly when the other bit down, but then released. He could feel his fingers held in lightly clenched teeth, tongue pushing his fingers up toward the roof of the mouth, deliberately moistening his digits. When the spit had dripped off the palm of his hand, he was finally let go. He moved his hand back down and pushed his wet fingers inside of the small body.  
  
Levi twisted in pleasure, gasping Erwin’s name. He reached to draw the blond closer for more kisses, but Erwin clasped his fingers, bending them back to turn his palm up. The smaller man shivered as he felt a tongue on his hand, pressing, and licking until the palm was moist. Levi impatiently ran this hand over his partner’s erection, caressing, slicking his hardness, guiding it over where the fingers were inside him.  
  
"Levi…" the larger man let out a grunt as he steadily pushed himself in. The muscles in his own thighs and abdomen twitched as he restrained himself from rushing into the hotness. It was soft but tight, squeezing on him. As he entered, his body acted on its own, pumping his hips, pushing deeper.  
  
"Aaaahh..!" Body shuddering in response, the smaller man cried out in a quivering moan as he felt the grinding inside him of something familiar- it was strong and firm like the rest of Erwin. Levi clawed at the sheets, pulling himself even closer. He craved the fervor; rawness; exhilaration. Levi pulled on the over-sized shirt he wore, writhing under the strain he put on his ribs, wheezing as his whole body tensed.  
  
"Hey..!" Erwin gasped at the sudden tightening around his erection. He looked worriedly at his partner, "Don’t…" he motioned to pull the smaller man by the hand, but saw the desperate blushing in his chest all the way up to his face where they locked gazes, and the blond realized- this is exactly how Levi wanted it: he wanted to be claimed, to be suffocated, to be made to squirm …to get completely under Erwin’s skin.  
  
Levi arched his back, drawing his legs up. His toes dug into the sheets bringing his hips at an angle, so as to allow Erwin to penetrate fully. With both hands, he pressed the larger man’s fingers to his ribs, beckoning, his breath shaking and uneven. Even when he was free running, the dark haired man always looked for the peak experience -the tallest walls, the highest roof tops. He’d pushed himself, and reveled in being pushed until he could be pushed no further.  
  
"Levi…" Erwin breathed huskily, smiling somewhat in fascination. He pressed his fingers to Levi’s ribs until he thought he could feel them creaking and as he buried himself all the way.  
  
Given precisely what he bargained for, Levi climaxed, craning his neck as he threw his head back, screaming.  
  
Erwin grunted and gasped Levi’s name over and over with each pulse of his release into the overwhelming heat. He pressed a hand to Levi’s stomach, stoking firmly as if trying to calm the spasms. The constant clenching nearly drove him to throb with pain, and he trembled trying to keep himself from collapsing on top of the smaller man. After the pulsating gradually slowed and subsided, Erwin drew out, both of them moaning as he did so.  
  
They lay there, unable to move until it felt like the room stopped spinning. Levi found it harder to regain regular breathing, his ribs terribly sore. This was comforted by a firm hand caressing his torso, soothingly massaging his chest, avoiding the problem area as if to take his mind off it, as if to apologize. “I’m okay…” he muttered, swallowing hard, throat dry from the heavy panting.  
  
"You are strange," Erwin responded with a kind smile. He kissed Levi on the neck before getting up to clean them both up.  
  
Levi allowed himself to delight in feeling Erwin’s hands on his skin, taking this time to remember the warmth.


	8. Part 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... you'll notice the chapter counter seems askew. It's thanks to AO3 not allowing me to list chapters as '.5's... I started writing this before I knew what AO3 was or how it works, so I guess I kind of shot myself in the foot with my formatting. orz

A radio tuned to a local alternative station quietly played in the background. The conference room had a few streamers taped up just minutes prior and a handful of balloons bobbed under the wave of air coming from the vents. It was impromptu; in fact, he didn’t want any special event at all, thinking he could just deliver the news in a morning announcement or post it on bulletin. But he was so well respected and well liked his colleagues thought a gathering would only serve to boost spirits and rapport, and he agreed.  
  
"To the new Chief Hospital Administrator!" someone cheered, prompting a toast and all in the room raised their drinks in response.  
  
Erwin only laughed, since they were all toasting with non alcoholic beverages at his request. Most of them were on rotation and would have to go back to work the next shift, and some sooner than that, so he insisted. They had closed off a conference room and a good handful was in attendance at this celebration of his promotion. A lot had happened in the last three years and there were many unfamiliar faces who had shown up simply out of admiration for Erwin, excited that the vice president of administration they’d heard so many good things about was actually now Chief Administrator.  
  
"Don’t think just because he seems nice on an interpersonal basis that we’ll get to take it easy," Erwin could hear someone saying.  
  
"Time just flies, Smith!" she called out from behind him, throwing an arm around his shoulder.  
  
"Zoe. It’s nice you could get away and join us for a little," he smiled, turning to face her and raised his glass in a toast.  
  
"Root beer," she chuckled, giving him a look over the top of her glasses.  
  
"And sparkling cider. I want to make sure everyone can still function properly when they leave this gathering. Besides, this is a dry campus."  
  
"You’re dry," she returned, but added, "But so was Shadis… I still can’t believe he just resigned like that."  
  
About a year ago, several schools in the area received anonymous threats over the span of a week. Metal detectors were placed and security seemed to have been doubled on campuses, but after a month it was deemed that there was no credible danger. People went back to their regular routine, events went on like usual without a hitch, no other threats were made. They had all but forgotten or dismissed the worries about an attack.  
  
The county’s annual fundraising marathon had gone underway, held every year to raise awareness and donations for the local public services. Shortly after the first few had passed the finish line, a few loud ‘pops’ could be heard all around. Some thought they were party poppers, those things that set off little confetti, to cheer friends for coming in place of the first few. Before anyone had a second to figure out what the noises were, people were falling, some screaming, some running. Erwin himself had been in the race, since he ran marathon distances regularly. With the scale of the event, it made sense their hospital had a stall there; some even had tents to treat the expected athletic injuries. Before he knew it, he was lifting people into the tents.  
  
"He must’ve come off pretty heartless to the families, like it was more of a priority to him that they signed permission for him to use their very recently deceased kin as donors than to give them a moment of peace to grieve."  
  
"He did what he had to. In fact, that was the priority."  
  
"I just think that -what was that kid’s name? Moses? -the mom really got to him."  
  
"You saw him, too. There wasn’t …enough left of him to save," he hesitated replying, trying not to sound too cold. "He did a good thing, in the end. Others lived because of what he gave."  
  
"You’re now in charge of making calls like that. It’s important we had this," she raised her glass gesturing to the ongoing event in the room, "So they can put a face to the man making the decisions -so they remember you’re human."  
  
"I’ll need support. How about it? There’s a position open in administration."  
  
"Honestly…" she started slowly, but the gleaming in her eyes betrayed an excitement, "I’ve been meaning to bring this up, but just hadn’t run into you lately."  
  
Erwin looked at his colleague- his friend- someone who had been an attending since his days as a medical resident. When a person says they’ve been meaning to say something for some time, it was usually not good news. If he was in anyway nervous anticipating some bad news, he certainly didn’t let it show; the blue eyes were firm as always, and reflected a patience that made it easy to open up to him.  
  
"I’ll still be here, I just wanted to focus on medical research. I’ve been busy transitioning into the new department, but it’s finally done so I won’t be dealing with clinical anymore."  
  
In a way, it wasn’t a surprise. When Erwin had seen the doctor work, he noticed that she was always more fascinated with patients on an almost molecular level. As great as she was dealing with trauma patients and diagnostics, there was something that drew her to explore the hows and whys as a researcher more interested in exploring the symptoms rather than as a physician interacting with the patients themselves.  
  
"I congratulate you," he smiled.  
  
"We won’t be seeing much of each other, but I’m sure you will be well assisted. They’re bringing a new chairman to the board next week. It sounds promising -maybe you can open him up to new ideas instead of having to constantly fight for the approval of those stale old poops red-taping this hospital everywhere."  
  
"I admit, it sometimes feels like I have to work with a hand tied behind my back, but I can understand their position."  
  
"Are you empathizing with the enemy?" she laughed.  
  
"Of course not. But ultimately, what we can or can’t do is largely dictated by the board. It’s easier to work with them if you know how they think."  
  
"Maybe you’ll catch a little break with the new—" she stopped as some new physicians came to speak with Erwin. "Go shake some hands. I’ll see you later."  
  
As he turned to the others, he watched the bespectacled doctor skip away. Unlike him, she was not great at containing her excitement which he thought gave her a certain strength of character. Sometimes he wondered if he envied her, that she was just as talented of a doctor but seemed so much more free spirited. How easily she could give up her position in practicing physician to completely immerse herself in research work; to not be burdened with leadership. He went around the room shaking hands, giving as good a pep talk as he could to those who needed it, and returned to work before the party was over.  
  
This was already the end of a week since he had been in the new office, but aside from the diplomas hanged in frames in a neat row on the wall, there was not much personalization at all. Much like his home, everything was organized, the necessities, and no personal photos simply because he hadn’t made time for it. A solid redwood desk sat in the middle of the room, imported years ago when the place was first built. It was reminder to anyone in the office that they were there to serve a legacy -the legacy of the school and its hospital. He straightened up and got everything ready for the next day, eager to go home where something existed that wasn’t a reminder of what he did for the hospital.


	9. Part 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... you'll notice the chapter counter seems askew. It's thanks to AO3 not allowing me to list chapters as '.5's... I started writing this before I knew what AO3 was or how it works, so I guess I kind of shot myself in the foot with my formatting. orz

With the rain falling at that time of night, the streets were lit by nothing but neon signs hanging in the windows of the numerous bars and restaurants along the strip towards Erwin’s place. For the first time in a while, he was getting out of work at a decent hour, and people were only just packing the pubs, queuing up past the door. Most were trying to shelter themselves from the rain and stood stacked against each other to try to get as far in the doors as possible.   
  
Erwin had been walking without an umbrella, but as heavier drops of rain began to mat his hair he broke into a jog. Passing the crowded establishments it finally set in how grateful he was for the event his coworkers threw together for him. People came into his office during the day, stated their business, and left almost as quickly. Though the event itself was a professional function, it was the first in a long time he got to address individuals outside of the matters highlighted in a case file shut in a folder.  
  
Blond hair soaked, his bangs had split from their finely combed style and sat over his brows, dripping water on his cheek. For but a fleeting moment he saw a shadow standing at his door waiting to be let in: a familiar frame of a small body, dark hair wet and matted like his own. He blinked, batting the water off his eyelashes and saw that there was no one there after all. This wasn’t the first time he wanted so badly to see Levi that he thought the man actually stood before him.   
  
The incident a year ago had an especial impact. Immediately as he lifted his first person into a medical tent, the panic had set in. For two years at this point he had searched and wondered if the dark haired man would again show up injured before him. As that seemed to have been the pattern, he almost anticipated seeing Levi amongst the wounded. One after another, he actively sought out those who were hurt, carrying them to receive medical attention. All the while he kept wondering if one of them would be Levi and at the same time praying not. It was as if his mind played tricks on him more often since then, and he would go home some nights seeing that familiar figure waiting at his door, only to touch his hand to a cold door knob and enter an empty apartment.  
  
Stacks of packed boxes and covered furniture lined the wall along the door in a neat row, with the exception of the couch in the middle of his living room which would serve as his futon until moving day. The only thing sitting out were a few sets of clothes for work hanging in the closet, enough to get him through the next week until the movers came. Basic toiletries and a duffle bag for what might be left over sat in the bathroom. The counter top in his kitchen displayed the old glass vial still, a reminder of Levi. This place where he had once brought the smaller man and fell asleep on the couch was little more than a dwelling devoid of company in the three years he since he’d last seen him.  
  
Stepping out of the shower, he dried off then wrapped the towel around his waist and went to bed on the couch. Right before he would close his eyes, he’d take one last look at the vial mentally saying good night. Somehow, he figured nobody would identify him as a sentimentalist since he didn’t himself. But between work and the empty apartment, the strange memories were something to look back to, even if all hope of looking forward to meeting again had faded.  
  
A few minutes later, he woke to what he thought was a knock on the door. Sitting up, he called out, “Who is it?” With everything packed and no habit of wearing a watch, he wondered what time it was and thought it was pretty inappropriate for a visitor to show at this hour. He approached the door with every intention to turn the person away, so he didn’t bother turning the light on.  
  
"Oi. What took so long?" the person said when the door opened enough of a crack for him to stick his foot in.  
  
"What the—" Erwin’s blue eyes widened in surprise. Despite the years that passed, despite the infrequent meetings, despite the individual looking pretty disheveled having soaked in the rain, the blond recognized him.  
  
"Let me in, you bastard. It’s freezing out here."  
  
"Of course," he huffed in disbelief. Closing the door after the unexpected visitor entered, he brushed his own damp hair back just to make sure he was seeing right, "How did you even find me?"  
  
"I’ve been here before," he answered, giving Erwin a sideways glance.  
  
"Yeah… I…" he felt awkward. Awful, even. To think that the other might have been looking for him, too. Besides the hospital, this would have been the only reasonable place the shorter man could seek him out. Yet, he was moving -would’ve already moved in just three or four more days. "…Your timing -it’s…"  
  
Levi glared at the taller man, “What’s all this?” He was referring to the collection of moving boxes along the wall.  
  
"You should be able to tell. I bought a place a little further outside of town," he paused, "I didn’t think I’d ever see you… here."  
  
"You’re usually not home."  
  
"What?" he was completely taken aback to think the man was implying he had been coming by.  
  
The two stared at each other in awkward silence for a while, Erwin so stunned and half asleep it didn’t even cross his mind to turn a light on, and observed the somewhat familiar man through the shadows. Finally, Levi started walking for the bathroom himself, like he remembered where everything was and helped himself to a shower. Erwin rested back down on the futon, listening to the running water falling like the rain.  His mind was a total blank; he couldn’t tell how long Levi took in the shower, but a trail of steam appeared to envelope the small body when he stepped out of the bathroom. It only made the blond wonder how long the other man stood outside, knocking; how long he’d left him standing outside soaking and freezing in the inclement weather.   
  
"I guess I took your only other clean towel."  
  
"That’s fine. I’m sorry."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"I didn’t know you were waiting outside," he answered where he lay. In the dim light he could still make out every detail he remembered about that body, most of it exposed covered with nothing more than a towel around the waist. Without seeing the smaller man’s back, he could still visualize the scars. Here, he had reclined comforted by the warmth of Levi’s body on top if his own, tracing the scars with his fingers as the other told him brief histories of when he acquired them.  
  
Levi seemed to be eying Erwin through his perpetual bothered expression. “I wasn’t there,” he said after a moment.  
  
"Wasn’t where?" There were plenty of places the dark haired man hadn’t been in the last few years. Definitely not where Erwin had ever came across him.  
  
"That race a year ago. I heard about what happened on the news, but I wasn’t there." He waited for a response from the blond, but when he saw the pair of blue eyes searching him, pressing him to go on, he continued, "I saw you. Some assholes were filming in the chaos instead of helping, but I saw you -helping. You did good."  
  
"I’m glad…" Erwin whispered into the dark. "Come here…" he reached out and waited for the shorter man to come to him, pulling him in when he did and holding him close. "You’re freezing…"  
  
"You did good…" the man said again, quieter this time.  
  
"I heard you." He tried shifting a little, startled by how cold Levi felt. "Hey… are you okay? You’re absolutely frigid."  
  
The man didn’t reply.  
  
"Levi…!" Erwin gasped, stunned by the cold. He sat up with a start, peering into the dark, empty room. "I’m…" he rubbed his face and looked again, spotting nothing but that his towel had fallen to the floor in his sleep. Nothing accompanied him save for the rushing sound of falling rain outside. He shivered, cold and sick- sick of waking up reaching out for him…


	10. Part 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... you'll notice the chapter counter seems askew. It's thanks to AO3 not allowing me to list chapters as '.5's... I started writing this before I knew what AO3 was or how it works, so I guess I kind of shot myself in the foot with my formatting. orz

Having just picked up their luggage from baggage claim, they stayed behind until most people left before making their way down the winding corridors. Finally, the two travelers stepped out of the terminal walked out to the front, the young man stopped to ask for directions while the young woman attempted to hail a taxi. Most of them just blew by, possibly toward where the taxi traffic needed to be routed. No clear signs in sight, the woman waited for the light to turn so she could cross the street and try her luck on the other side.  
  
“I hate city traffic,” the young man grumbled, frowning.   
  
“It’ll be no problem,” she said, pretty upbeat -everything around her was new, and this would be her home for the next few years.  
  
A white outline of a human figure appeared on the digital meter across where they stood. A short row of cars were parked in front of the terminal for quick pick up of arriving friends and kin. She stepped out in front of the first car in the row as prompted by the light indicating pedestrians are now to cross. Before she realized what happened, she was on the ground, staring up at the body of her of her fellow traveler being thrown to the other side of the crosswalk by a blurred yellow mass.  She couldn’t hear anything, but the next thing she knew, she was being lifted up and carried away. When she came around, she found herself standing in a hallway wondering if this is what shell shock felt like.   
  
“CLEAR A PATH!” someone yelled over several loud sets of hurried footsteps and clattering of the gurney wheels over tiles.   
  
“He’s bleeding out. Multiple fractures, open lacerations,” an EMT read from his clipboard.  
  
“He’s got blood in his mouth. Can we get a chest x-ray?” asked a nurse following closely to the gurney.  
  
“If his BP drops any lower he’s gonna go into tachycardia.”  
  
“Ox sat continues dropping— hey, somebody bag him!” the lead attending hollered as they rushed the injured down the hallway.  
  
A short blond woman looked on, crying into her bloodied sleeve while an EMT tried to get more information from her, but to little avail. Between her shock and the sobbing, it was difficult to make out anything she said -if she was even saying anything.   
  
“Prep OR. Get the lead surgeon-” the lead attending started.  
  
“-he went home already.”  
  
“-I.DON’T.CARE. Get the cardiologist in here just in case. Hell, just… Bring me everyone.”  
  
“What do you mean, ‘everyone?’”  
  
“EV-ERY-ONE!!” the attending boomed, body shaking as the air rumbled out of his lungs.  
   
  
Erwin received a short call for permission to call everyone in, just to give him the heads up: urgent matter, Chairman of the Board involved.  He didn’t like it, but he couldn’t argue. He would just have to shuffle hours and address trading shifts later. Now he was in his office sorting through documents he previously set aside as lower priorities. Most of the more immediate issues already dealt with, he would give the remaining files another review before passing them along to the appropriate personnel. Newly charged with being the chief administrator, he was being taken even further away from the action and that felt almost foreign. Normally, he would be monitoring the hospital as though he were doing rounds, but coming to this position rather abruptly, there was a lot to sort out. Though he missed the interactions with people, he knew he was needed here.  
  
“Doctor Smith!” a voice muffled by the closed doors accompanied by frantic knocking interrupted him.  
  
“Come on in,” he motioned, standing up.  
  
“Doctor,” the physician threw the door open, but stood at ready to lead him away, “You’re being called to the OR.”  
  
“I’m assuming this has something to do with the chairman. The house surgeon should—”  
  
“Actually, we called the lead surgeon-“  
  
He raised a brow slightly in bemusement, but he continued, “Then the lead surgeon is more than adequate-“  
  
“-NO. No, the chairman requested you personally.”  
  
The blond shook his head, but in disbelief instead of protest. He still didn’t quite understand what was going on. It wasn’t unusual for the chairmen of the board to get preferential treatment, but there was no reason to request him in particular. Even before he entered administrative position, he wasn’t going for lead surgeon. Sure, he could perform in the same capacity, but everyone knew that wasn’t his path.   
  
“Please!”  
  
Moments later, he found himself hustling down the hallway towards the elevator as the physician briefed him on the condition of the patient. As the doctor finished disclosing the extent of the injuries, they walked past the lead surgeon and other expert consults of the hospital heading up to observation with a young blond woman in their company, many of them trying to console her. He went into the scrub room with the physician who fetched him, masking, gowning, and scrubbing. It had been so long since he last went through the aseptic procedure, but he carried on like it was second nature.   
  
They let the water run off their elbows, and the other doctor asked him, “Aren’t you going to ask which chairman it is?”  
  
“Does it matter?” Erwin retorted as he donned his gloves. “I still think this could’ve been taken care of by our lead surgeon.”  
  
“Well, he was conscious for a short time and said nobody was to touch him except the Chief Hospital Administrator.”  
  
“He was lucid enough to say that, exactly?” he tried to keep conversation brief. It wasn’t that he wasn’t confident or didn’t want to perform the surgeries; what bothered him was that it didn’t make sense even for a chairman to request someone with an administrative title. As he made his way to the sterile field, where other scrubbed team members stood, the other finally answered him-  
  
“No, actually… the woman who arrived with him said—”  
  
Though most of the patient’s face was covered by the ventilation mask, Erwin thought he recognized the man.  
  
“Doctor Smith! Are you okay?”  
  
He heard one of the surgical members call out as he caught himself. The way he could feel his gut wrench- it was like the air had been completely knocked out of him. Eying the room, he saw the team was looking at him with worry. His face had paled and it felt like pins and needles on his scalp and fingers; he was almost sure his heart just stopped for a few seconds.  
  
“I’m fine,” he said quickly, collecting himself then began the procedures.  
  
Extensive tissue repair was required, but no major organs suffered significant injuries. As he finished, Erwin looked up at the window where doctors occupied the observation room.  The patient’s condition was stable all through surgery, whether by his own resilience or the surgeon’s skills, Doctor Smith’s work didn’t fail to impress. He couldn’t see it, but the group patted the young woman on the shoulders and told her that her partner would be alright.  
  
After Erwin cleaned up, he learned that his patient was already out of recovery, and went immediately to the room he was taken.  Another physician and nurse stood at the bed side with a smaller blond woman he recognized from earlier. Before he would speak with anyone, he gave the monitors a quick once-over. All readouts were within normal range and the injured man was no longer on a respirator. Despite the apparent good news, his heart was pounding like it would burst through his chest.   
  
“What happened?” he asked, barely audible.  
  
“Vehicular accident. From what we can gather, the woman that was with him just stepped out to cross the lot and a car came out around a parked vehicle -he jumped in to push her out of the way. I hear they just arrived at the airport. What a thing to have happen.”  
  
“Are you… Erwin?” the woman finally spoke. When they all turned to stare at her, she continued, “He said he didn’t trust anyone besides Erwin and didn’t want anyone else sewing him up.”  
  
“He said that? When?”  
  
“He was awake for a little under a minute right as we were moving him to surgery,” the nurse answered.  
  
“Smith, you know her?” the other doctor asked.  
  
“No, not her, but…” Erwin looked over at the bed and hesitated.  
  
“You know the Chairman?”  
  
“I don’t…” he meant to say he didn’t understand, but his throat was dry and he could hardly rasp out a response.  
  
“Maybe he just heard of you from the hospital’s information. You did have a meeting with him at the end of this week. This is the man who donated a sizable amount of money to the hospital on top of funding an exchange program for consideration for a seat on the board. Of course, it doesn’t make him chairman without your agreement, but he expressed he was confident you wouldn’t refuse when you met him. -What a way for you two to meet!”  
  
Erwin rubbed a hand to his forehead, then smiled as best he could as he leaned forward slightly to address the young woman, “Thank you for relaying his request- I’m Erwin.  And you are?”  
  
“I’m Petra-” she began slowly.  
  
“-We understand you must be petrified, but please answer the doctor’s question.”  
  
“Her name IS Petra, you stupid fu…” the man in the bed grunted, cutting off his own comment as he gritted his teeth in pain.  
  
“You were given opioids for pain management. Try not to talk or move,” Erwin said with a quiet sigh of relief.  
  
Levi locked gazes with the pair of deep blue eyes for a moment thinking of all the things he wanted to say. But conversation would have to wait, it hurt to speak. It hurt to do anything except close his eyes and try to go back to sleep.


End file.
